Local Gym Delivers Flipping Great Results

Athletes from the Sydney Gymnastic and Aquatic Centre (SGAC) at West HQ recently returned home from the FIG Trampoline World Championships, with one athlete returning a world age champion and another six being in the top 10 in the world.

Eleven gymnasts from the SGAC qualified to represent Australia at the 10-day event that encapsulated the Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships, World Age Competitions and Junior World Championships held in Birmingham, United Kingdom in November.

West HQ Chief Executive Officer Richard Errington said the SGAC athletes' tremendous performance demonstrated the value of West HQ’s decision to fund and build one of the most extensive purpose-built gymnastics facilities in the southern hemisphere ten years ago.

“This tops off a great 10th anniversary of a facility we built to not only support stars of the future, like our representatives at the recent Worlds, but also to promote healthy and active lifestyles for those in our community,” Mr Errington said.

“These results, along with SGAC being nominated for 40 club and individual awards in the soon-to-be-announced Gymnastics NSW Awards, are great, but what makes it really exciting is the success we are having in seeing thousands of locals getting active through the various programs we run.”

Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships

In the Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships, Troy Sitkowski, who in addition to training at the facility is employed by West HQ as an SGAC coach, placed 15th in the world for individual Double Mini Trampoline and seventh in the Men’s Team Double Mini with Benjamin Brown (Canberra), Mathew French (TAS) and Cameron Tidd (VIC).

The Razorback resident was part of the ten-person Australian team that came fourth in the worlds’ Team All-Around event, along with his co-worker and fellow gymnast Imogen Florian, who placed 27th in the individual event, seventh in the women's Synchronised competition with partner Carina Hagarty (Qld), and 11th in the Women’s Team with Carina, Jessica Pickering (Newcastle, NSW) and Abbie Watts (SA).

Both Troy and Imogen, who lives in Dural, will now be part of the Australian team at the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China, to face off against the other top 7 nations in the events in Trampoline that are not in the Olympics.

Trampoline Age World Age Champions & Junior World Championships

The success by Troy and Imogen continued through the meet, where seven junior athletes delivered impressive performances, with Kellyville resident Nicolas Diaz Ballas becoming the new World Age Champion for 15-16 Synchronised Trampoline with his partner Brock Batty (VIC).

He and Brock also took out the silver medal in the first-ever Junior World Championships held on the final day of the event, where the best performers in each age group qualified to compete in their discipline against all other age groups.

Also competing in the Junior World Championships were SGAC Gymnasts:

• Avi Margolis, from Bellevue Hill, placed third in the 17-21 Age Champions Trampoline event;
• Leo Steimbeisser, from Rossmore, placed third in the 13-14 Age Champions Double Mini trampoline event;
• Kye Costa, from West Hoxton, placed sixth in the 13-14 Age Champions Double Mini trampoline event; and,
• Nicola Roupell from Castle Hill and Xoey Butterworth Pascoe from Windsor Downs made the finals for the 13-14 Age Champion Synchronised Trampoline event.

SGAC’s head coach, Belinda Cox, said the results were highly pleasing for all those who train and work at SGAC.

“We continue to grow as a leading facility, which has also been the training ground for athletes including Olympian Dominic Clarke, Commonwealth Games Silver Medallist Breanna Scott, World Champion Emma Nedov, and World Cup Silver Medallist Kira Ward,” Ms Cox said.

“But while it is great to see some in our community reaching such elite levels, we’re also thrilled to see many thousands from the local area enter our doors to enhance their fitness and skills.”

IMAGE: Avi Margolis 3rd in 17-21 trampoline.

IMAGE: Kye Costa in 13-14 DMT final

IMAGE: SGAC reps.

IMAGE: Troy and Imogen at world Championships.

• Topics:

• Gymnastics